New shoes, clothes keep kids running

Tia DeLeers, coordinator of the Bellin Run Kids for Running program, sorts through boxes of new running shoes Tuesday, April 28, that are being donated to more than 200 needy children who are participating in the program this spring. The shoes and other running gear were provided by Shopko through funding from the Schneider Foundation.(Photo: Todd McMahon/Press-Gazette Media)Buy Photo

Jody Anderson is bracing for a warmer reception than normal when she meets her young students for a training run after school today.

"As soon as I get out of the car, they're usually by the door waiting to get their shoes," Anderson said.

She leads the Bellin Run Kids for Running program for the Algoma schools. A third of the 24 kids in Anderson's group are eagerly awaiting her showing up for their scheduled practice today with a big box of snazzy items.

Those eight children are among 209 recipients from about 20 schools in Northeastern Wisconsin who are receiving new running shirts, shorts, socks and shoes to further their training for the Bellin Run.

The children were selected for the free running gear on the basis of financial need. The registration fee for the Bellin Run, which is June 13 in Green Bay, also is waived for those kids.

"A lot of kids that run in the program can't afford the registration," said Mary Gronnert, coordinator of the Schneider Foundation. "They want to run — anybody can run — but sometimes they don't have the right shoes or they were running in jeans."

Shopko supplied the clothing items and shoes at a discounted price with funding from the Schneider Foundation.

The items were picked up by organizers Tuesday at the Shopko store at Bay Park Square Mall in Ashwaubenon and later sorted for distribution to the running coaches from the various schools the rest of the week.

Tia DeLeers, longtime coordinator of the Kids for Running program for kids in grades 3-8, said the students who receive the donations are chosen by their running coach or an administrator at the school.

"It's unlimited for how many kids that they (select)," DeLeers said. "Most of these coaches are teachers, so they know their kids and the (financial) limits that the parents have."

Gretchen Jandrin, a teacher and the running coach at Anne Sullivan Elementary School in Green Bay, said she requested donated shoes for 22 of the 55 students in the school's running program.

"Many of our families cannot afford or have other priorities other than buying their child an expensive pair of running shoes," Jandrin said. "The shoes open up a world of opportunities for my kids. The confidence they gain, friendships they make and determination they show is remarkable.

"Kids who couldn't run a half-mile a couple weeks ago are running 2½ miles without stopping, and they are 8 or 10 years old."

Gronnert said Ashwaubenon-based Schneider has supported Bellin's Kids for Running program for nearly a decade by making an annual contribution of $10,000 or more from its foundation.

She remembers meeting a grateful boy the morning of the Bellin Run a few years ago who had received a pair of donated running shoes.

"He came up to me at the run and said, 'I put these shoes on, and I just started running, and I've never looked back,'" Gronnert said.

Anderson said handing out colorful shoes and other merchandise to some of the runners in the 7-year-old Algoma running program comes at a good time. They are nearing the midway point of their training for the heavily attended 10-kilometer Bellin Run.

"In some ways, it's a reward, but it's also motivation for them to keep going," said Anderson, who works as a registered nurse with Bellin Health.

From right, coordinator Tia DeLeers, Krystle Kempen and Diana Perrault sort through boxes of new running shoes Tuesday that are being donated to more than 200 needy children participating in the Bellin Run Kids for Running program.(Photo: Todd McMahon/Press-Gazette Media)